Novel Compounds of Octahydroheptaprenyl Mycolic Acyl Ester and Monocyclic C35-Terpene, Heptaprenylcycline B, from Non-PathogenicMycobacteriumSpecies

A search for C35-terpenes from non-saponified extracts of 12 non-pathogenic Mycobacterium species was carried out. Octahydroheptaprenyl mycolic acyl esters were isolated from M. chlorophenolicum cells which were also found from M. thermoresistibile, M. vanbaalenii, M. aichiense, M. smegmatis, and M. parafortuitum. This is the first report on a polyprenol esterified by a mycolate. A novel monocyclic C35-terpene possessing a ketone, named heptaprenylcycline B, was isolated, which was detected from M. chlorophenolicum and M. vanbaalenii. The biosynthetic pathway to heptaprenylcycline B was investigated with ancymidol which acts as an inhibitor of a P450 monooxygenase. This experiment suggested that the P450 monooxygenase may be responsible for the production of heptaprenylcycline B.